Synchronica Secures Funding for Mobile Gateway Development
- Thursday, January 17th, 2008
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Synchronica plc, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, has raised $3.7 million (1.9 million) in funds through a placing of new ordinary shares with Lanstead Capital L.P. The proceeds will be used for continued development and accelerated commercialisation of the companys award-winning Mobile Gateway product that will add growth in its core mobile email business. Synchronica says the move strengthens its position at a time when growth in mass-market mobile email services is set to explode and consumer demand for over the air (OTA) back-up and restore service is increasing.
This funding will enable us to capitalise on the traction we have in the international marketplace and to further improve our competitive position, particularly in the mobile email space, says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. Our unique zero footprint architecture and commitment to open industry standards are the key to operators successfully targeting the consumer market, particularly with mobile Push Email.
Synchronicas Mobile Gateway is a carrier-grade middleware solution combining push e-mail and synchronization services. Based on open industry standards, Mobile Gateway can synchronize with 1.5 billion mobile devices in use today, including popular models from leading device manufacturers, such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Apple. Mobile Gateway has the benefit of synchronizing without requiring any additional software to be installed on the device or behind the firewall, a factor which will boost consumer adoption rates.
Mobile industry analyst firm Visiongain expects the consumer mobile email market to grow from 8 million consumer email accounts in 2007 to 36 million in 2008 and 184 million by 2011. According to new research by analyst Frost & Sullivan, wireless email is moving from a nice to have to a must have application in the enterprise, with revenues set to grow from 1.86 billion (1.39 billion) in 2007 to an estimated 6.65 billion in 2012.
Synchronica also expects to see an increasing demand from consumers for a back-up and restore facility for their mobile devices in 2008. This is because consumers increasingly depend on their mobile device as the primary repository for vital information such as phone numbers and addresses. If a persons phone is lost or stolen, it is the information on the phone, rather than the device itself, which is now of highest value.
We anticipate a significant increase in demand for a low-cost facility from service providers that will allow consumers to back-up and restore their contacts information over-the-air (OTA), says Brinkschulte. Mobile operators are always looking for new revenue streams and an OTA back-up and restore service may be the mobile data application that will be successful in the mass-market in 2008.”